Category: COVID-19

Gov. Laura Kelly today issued an executive order requiring Kansas to immediately adopt CDC guidelines to stop gatherings of 50 or more for eight weeks.

The response to the COVID-19 outbreak was one in a series of steps the governor has taken in recent days, including declaring a state of emergency and strongly advising public schools to close schools this week.

She said she was meeting later today with representatives of the hospitality and restaurant industry, and business representatives to discuss the situation.

The governor mentioned that some restaurants are implementing new strategies, such as “grab and go” meals, where customers pick up food and then eat at home.

The governor said she also has asked the Kansas Corporation Commission to suspend utility disconnections until April 15. This covers electric, gas and telecom. In the Kansas City area, Evergy already has announced it will suspend disconnections. She said she also is asking other utilities not regulated by KCC to suspend disconnections.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities also announced it was suspending disconnections today, for those facing hardship as a result of the coronavirus. The BPU also encouraged customers to use methods other than face-to-face to pay their bills, such as mail, by phone, automatic withdrawals and online payments. There are self-service kiosks located at the BPU lobby and in grocery stores.

The steps the state is taking are designed to flatten the curve of the rise of the COVID-19, the governor said. She encouraged residents to use good handwashing and stay home when they are sick.

Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas health secretary, said there are now 11 COVID-19 patients in Kansas, including three new positive cases last night. So far there have been 342 negative tests, for a rate of about 4.7 percent positive, he said. There are about 150 to 200 tests being done per day by the state.

The three most recent positive cases were people who were exposed to one Johnson County person who was identified as a positive case last week, Dr. Norman said. They were at a social gathering, he said. Johnson County now has eight COVID-19 cases, according to its website.

Dr. Norman said staff members at a nursing home in Wyandotte County where there was a COVID-19 patient all tested negative for COVID-19, and the staff there should be commended for being attentive to safety precautions and practicing good hygiene.

When asked about 125 or more people gathering in the Capitol on a regular basis, Gov. Kelly said the rule applies to people who are congregating together and standing close together. She also urged the Kansas Legislature to get its work done quickly and go home, so that the question is a moot point.

Schools that return to classes next week or after the end of the month will implement more spacing between students, limiting large gatherings. The procedures are in the process of being worked out.

KDHE has a website for more information on COVID-19, at http://www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus.

The Wyandotte County website on COVID-19 is at https://www.wycokck.org/COVID-19.

The CDC also has a COVID-19 website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/.

More information from the news conference is available from a video on the governor’s Facebook website at https://www.facebook.com/GovLauraKelly/videos/209628907013943/?tn=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARAzcC6SjTj-_03_YaAeP7SD1f9OQPy-WUo_Qo_IVhM4CRKTZpc8nlpC6AD2k3cuB1PWScJD3ez0moSR .

Eighty-five tests on staff and patients at the Life Care Center of Kansas City, the Kansas City, Kansas, nursing home where a COVID-19 patient lived, have come back negative, health officials said today during a virtual news conference held by the University of Kansas Health System.

Dr. Allen Greiner, chief medical officer for the UG Health Department, said during the news conference Monday morning that there also are an additional 25 tests pending at the state health lab.

There has been no link found as of now between the nursing home in Kansas City, Kansas, and other nursing homes in the state of Washington, owned by the same chain, where there were COVID-19 cases reported, Dr. Greiner said.

“We’re still conducting that intensive investigation and we don’t know how that patient was exposed to the virus at all,” Dr. Greiner said. “Because all 85 have now tested negative, we’re looking further for contacts, but there is no reason to believe there is a connection with the Washington facility.”

The patient, who was in his 70s, was at the nursing home, then was transferred to Providence Medical Center last Tuesday for other medical issues, and died there Wednesday. No other COVID-19 cases were reported in Wyandotte County.

Dr. Greiner said some new sites will be coming online with private testing soon, with at least four private labs offering tests.

He added there were 20 individuals in Wyandotte County currently under a 14-day quarantine, and they are being monitored by the Health Department.

The Johnson County Health Department today reported more cases of COVID-19, bringing cases there to eight.

Tammy Peterman, chief operating officer at the University of Kansas Health Systems, outlined several steps taken at the hospital to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including banning all business travel, screening employees returning from travel, expanding work at home and restricting visitors. They are convening a group of hospital leaders to learn from one another.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, participated in the news conference, and said it was “likely” that he will vote for a bill that the Senate is considering to provide funding for citizens and employees who are facing economic hardship because of the pandemic. The bill passed the House on Saturday.

He said that there needs to be resources for those who are unable go to to work and are caring for children, and for health care workers. There needs to be a different way to meet the needs of small business workers, he added.

Sen. Moran also said the USDA has told the Senate that it will provide food to schoolchildren who may be receiving meals under the low-income programs, and a process was being developed for the food to be delivered or picked up if school is not in session.

The CDC has stated that crowds should be limited to no more than 50 people in a place, and Dr. Steven Stites of the University of Kansas Health System said that whether or not the state cancels events of more than 50, individuals should take the social responsibility and not go to those events.

“Don’t wait on the government to tell you,” he said.

Dr. Greiner agreed.

“We want folks to avoid crowds,” he said.

He encouraged people to stay more than 6 feet apart, wash their hands, cough into their elbows and avoid crowds.

More information from this video news conference is available online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/894235634348062/.

KDHE has a website for more information on COVID-19, at http://www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus.

The Wyandotte County website on COVID-19 is at https://www.wycokck.org/COVID-19.

The CDC also has a COVID-19 website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/.

Gov. Laura Kelly today asked all K-12 schools to close for one week, starting Monday, to face the COVID-19 risk.

The closures will give the public schools time to plan, she said.

Gov. Kelly said this closure was “strongly recommended” in consultation with the State Board of Education and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Some school districts, such as the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, already were scheduled for spring break this week.

Other districts, such as the Piper Public Schools, announced a closure last Friday for this week. Piper had been scheduled to go on spring break the following week.

The Turner Public Schools went on spring break on Friday, and students are out of school until March 24.

The Bonner Springs-Edwardsville Public Schools will be on spring break March 16 through March 23.

Gov. Kelly also said the state must continue to support child care efforts to remain open.

“This was not an easy decision,” Gov. Kelly said. There are challenges including maintaining meals for children in need, addressing child care and other challenges from students not being in school, she said.

The State Board of Education has formed a team of experts, she said, to build a comprehensive plan to address the challenges the schools are facing with COVID-19.

Those challenges include how students can continue their studies online if necessary; how schools can assist students who do not have access to online tools to finish the semester, especially those who will graduate in May; how schools can provide for students who have individual education plans; how schools can continue school-based mental health services; how schools can continue providing meals for students who need them; what role can schools play in assisting in child care; how schools can assist in efforts to keep children from congregating in community spaces and keep them quarantined in their own houses; and how to educate parents on ways to continue the students’ educations.

“We need an approach that achieves educational goals while also providing a safe environment for our students, and acting in the best interests of public health,” Gov. Kelly said.

“Kansas will continue taking proactive steps to ensure that we’re doing our utmost in COVID-19 prevention and response,” she said.

To see the governor’s news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/GovLauraKelly/